Toes Don't Touch

I never was a strong swimmer growing up. Despite the lesson-filled summers in the pool at our local YMCA, I couldn’t seem to grasp the skill of staying above water when my toes didn’t touch the bottom. Summer camps, birthday parties, or any other occasion involving a bathing suit gave me bouts of anxious toil because I knew I couldn’t trust my technique, strength, or aquatic capabilities. Too embarrassed to wear a life jacket or floaties, I would stick to the shallow end and dabble where I could bump my toes across the rough bottom of the pool.

I remember a few instances where I attempted to venture out into deeper water. The surface rose from my thighs to my waist and then all the way to my chest. The bumpy pool bottom that my toes had grown accustomed to was replaced with a void of unknown and fear. During those moments of searching for the pool floor I never once remembered my swim lessons. Kick your legs, stroke your arms, control your breathing. Concepts lost on a panicked child in neck deep water. A time or two I had to be rescued, including the day my mother jumped into the pool, fully clothed, to save her sinking swimmer during our t-ball end of season pool-party. The scars left by deep water make it hard for little toes to leave the shallow end, but we still should learn to swim.

The Christian possesses a unique calling. We have been called from darkness into marvelous light, from death to life. God has called us to leave the shore, the beach, or poolside and enter into the water where He is. Christ called Peter to leave the boat and join Him on the water and I believe the call is the same for us today. If God calls us to the water's edge, will He not also give us the faith to enter into it?

I fear too many Christians, myself included, have contented ourselves with the shallow end of our spiritual swim. Our toes cling to the bottom where we can make sense of what surrounds us. Without a kick of the legs or stroke of the arms we say that we are swimming, but really we are just getting soggy with familiar sensations. Early on, the shallow end is necessary. It is a place to become acquainted with our new surroundings. A place to learn about what it means to swim. However, if we aren’t careful then we settle into the shallow end being our home. Milky theology, monotonous church attendance (if any), and enough contribution to a small group to be present, yet still invisible are all just little bumps underneath our toes. These remind us that we are in the water, but how deep? Our God has not invited you into a shallow faith. Do we not sing of the depth of His mercy and love and goodness?

Shouldn’t our natural progression incline us towards the deep things of God? I believe that is a major role of the Spirit within us, to draw us deeper. Deeper towards hard truths, difficult questions to answer, and amazing realities laid out in the gospel. The deep end of our faith is a place where we live hopeful and readily equipped to justify our joyful hope. The deep end is where lost people ask us to explain the gospel and how they must be saved? Can we know the depths of Christ's love for us if our toes never leave the bottom? Perhaps more importantly, can we proclaim his depth and richness to a lost people who only see us dabbling in our faith? If we don’t find ourselves in meaningful conversations with those who need to hear the good news of Christ is it because we have settled for shallow ended faith? Are we too comfortable in a place where we either do not care to share the gospel or we do not have the spiritual muscles to navigate those waters, so we just splash around hard truths and neglect the great commission?

We are called to so much more. Jesus said to pray for workers (swimmers), not loafers (floaters), to be sent into the harvest field. To go and make disciples means we must first become disciples. Our teacher, our Lord, desires us to pursue Him in the depths of unknown waters. We know it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:16), so should we be shocked when He calls us to swim towards places where we have no choice, but to believe Him? That type of swimming requires exercise and exercise requires some kind intentional response to the prompts of the Spirit. That which is shallow cannot draw itself deeper. So, if my heart is found shallow then Lord, draw me deeper.

I encourage you Christian to swim towards deeper water. The God who provided the faith for your earliest steps towards Him will supply all your needs in your continued pursuit of Him. Start swimming, practice your kicking and use your arms. Examine what happened to you in conversion. Seek to understand the workings of salvation, namely Christ’s workings. Learn what it means to have been justified, how you are being sanctified, and how you will be glorified. Engage in deeper conversations with those around you. Lay out the truth of the gospel, the best way you know how, and be bold in your declaration of Christ’s Lordship. This is all part of learning to swim in deeper waters. Let’s not rely solely on the knowledge and communication skills of our pastors to outline the truth of God in order to reach those within our own grasp.

Look for others swimming in deep waters and join them. Dive into His word headlong and explore the truth therein. Practice Bible study and not just Bible reading. Try to establish sound theology into your walk, not because it saves, but because it helps guide you along the way. Pray like your life depends on it, because it does. Prayer is what fills your lungs with dependable air, which keeps you afloat. You will never make it in deep water without it.

Lord, if you call us towards deeper waters then let us not be surprised when our feet no longer feel bottom. We thank you for the shallow end, but remind us that You offer so much more. Our faith is meant to grow. Our joy is meant to expand. Our Savior is to be exalted. We are meant to know You more. I believe that is what You want from us, to know You and participate in the work of making You known. Lead us Lord. Lead us past the place of superficial faith. Lead us to genuine, radical, and abounding faith, one that lasts when life is overwhelming.

When we reach the deep places and we find affliction and suffering ever present, remind us that our faith was made for such waves. The depths are not a place of calm and idle waters. Fierce breaking waves await us there, but so do You.

So draw us Lord, towards deeper depths, out into the places where our toes don’t touch.